New Releases
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June 25, 2021Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part is an album of songs written and performed by Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion. With Shaw on vocals and Sō filling out this new band, they developed songs in the studio, with lyrics inspired by their own wide-ranging interests: James Joyce, the Sacred Harp hymnal, a poem by Anne Carson, the Bible’s Book of Ruth, the American roots tune “I’ll Fly Away,” the pop music of ABBA, and more. Pre-order to download “To the Sky” now and get a custom climbing pole bean seed packet hand-printed and signed by Shaw.
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This 2021 remastered, expanded edition of the soul-stirring 2005 benefit album Our New Orleans includes five previously unreleased tracks as well as the original performances by Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Irma Thomas, Wild Magnolias, Buckwheat Zydeco, Randy Newman, and others. The album has thus far raised $1.5 million Habitat for Humanity’s post-Katrina rebuilding effort. "Rife with stirring performances," says the Washington Post, "Our New Orleans has the soul of the city."
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Composer Caroline Shaw wrote Narrow Sea, this album's title piece, for Sō Percussion, Dawn Upshaw, and Gilbert Kalish, who perform it here: five parts, each a new setting of a text from The Sacred Harp, the 19th-century collection of shape-note hymns. Also on the album is Sō Percussion's performance of Shaw's Taxidermy, which she wrote for the ensemble.
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Vagabon has teamed up with Courtney Barnett for a cover inspired by Karen Dalton's version of "Reason to Believe," which was originally written and recorded by Tim Hardin in 1965 and covered by a wide range of artists since. After discovering Dalton's version, "I became obsessed," says Vagabon's Lætitia Tamko, "and so a few days after discovering it, I was encouraged to record a cover of it in my garage." Barnett adds: "I'm a huge fan of Vagabon and Karen Dalton so this was a dream. They both have a voice that absolutely knocks the wind out of me."
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Lianne La Havas's Live at the Roundhouse EP features five songs from an intimate live-streamed performance she gave from the famed London venue in July: four from her 2020 self-titled album plus "Midnight" from her previous album, Blood. Vocalist Frida Touray joins for two songs.
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Joachim Cooder's cover of Steve Earle’s "Christmas in Washington," recorded December 2020 in Los Angeles, features Cooder, who produced the track, on vocals, array mbira, and percussion; Rayna Gellert on fiddle; and Juliette Commagere on backing vocals. “Since Steve Earle released 'Christmas in Washington' in 1997 I've been listening to it year in and year out," he says. "After the election and the last four years we’ve been through, and with Christmas approaching, I thought it was time we all checked back in with Steve. Now more than ever, it seems all a man can do is call out for Woody Guthrie to rise again."
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The Black Keys mark ten years of their four-time Grammy Award–winning album Brothers with a deluxe 10th anniversary edition featuring the remastered original album plus three previously unavailable songs, a new liner note by David Fricke, and photos from the archives. The album, recorded primarily at Alabama's legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, is "a masterpiece," exclaimed Rolling Stone; Uncut said it proves The Black Keys to be "one of the best rock 'n' roll bands on the planet."
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Clint Mansell's haunting score to director Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film Requiem for a Dream, performed by Kronos Quartet, returns to vinyl for the film's 20th anniversary year. The soundtrack was originally released on Nonesuch in 2000; the first vinyl edition was released for Record Store Day in 2016 with new artwork and two previously unreleased bonus tracks. The new 2-LP vinyl edition, which also includes the bonus tracks, features the original 2000 soundtrack cover art for the anniversary. "Brilliant stuff," says Classic FM.
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Devendra Banhart's cover of The Grateful Dead’s “Franklin’s Tower,” was released in honor of the 45th anniversary of The Grateful Dead’s album Blues for Allah. The song was produced and mixed by Noah Georgeson and recorded with his current touring band: Nicole Lawrence on guitar, Jeremy Harris on synths, and Gregory Rogove on drums and percussion. It was recorded remotely in various studios and home studios around Los Angeles and Stinson Beach, CA.